Portrait of A Gray Lady In Her Declining Years

The New York Times. under the now-infamous guidance of executive editor Howell Raines, is quickly becoming a caricature of the most nasty portrayals of it as a left wing rag. General Powell's presentation to the UN Security Council has a lot of people who were extremely skeptical about the prospect of war in Iraq admitting that there might well have been a point to all of this. Richard Cohen (someone I rarely agree with, but who is honest and bright) and Mary McGrory (who, sad to say, has never impressed me with either her intellect or her honesty) both have columns in this morning's Washington Post lauding Powell's speech and admitting that there is a case for the U.S. to act, alone if need be. On the other hand, the NYT's lead editorial reads like the answer to the question: "If you put an infinite number of cheese-eating surrender monkeys in a room with typewriters, what editorial would they write?":

The Case Against Iraq

Secretary of State Colin Powell presented the United Nations and a global television audience yesterday with the most powerful case to date that Saddam Hussein stands in defiance of Security Council resolutions and has no intention of revealing or surrendering whatever unconventional weapons he may have. In doing so, with the help of spy satellite photos and communications intercepts, Mr. Powell placed squarely before the Security Council the fateful question of how it should respond. As American military forces in the region build toward full strength, President Bush should continue to let diplomacy work. The manner in which the United States wields its great power, and the regard it gives to the views of other nations, are vital matters as a showdown with Iraq draws near. The character of America is at issue as much as its military might.

Mr. Powell's most convincing evidence was of efforts by Iraq to shield chemical or biological weapons programs from United Nations inspectors. The intercepted conversations of Republican Guard officers that he played, in which they urgently seek to hide equipment or to destroy communications in advance of inspections, offered stark evidence that Mr. Hussein has not only failed to cooperate with the inspectors, as Resolution 1441 requires him to, but has actively sought to thwart them. Mr. Powell also offered new evidence that Al Qaeda terrorists have found safe harbor in Iraq, but the links between Baghdad and the terror network seemed more tenuous than his other charges.

Mr. Powell's presentation was all the more convincing because he dispensed with apocalyptic invocations of a struggle of good and evil and focused on shaping a sober, factual case against Mr. Hussein's regime. It may not have produced a "smoking gun," but it left little question that Mr. Hussein had tried hard to conceal one.

In response to Mr. Powell's presentation, the foreign ministers of France, Germany, China and Russia called for extending and strengthening the inspection program in Iraq. The French minister, Dominique de Villepin, proposed expanding the number of inspectors and increasing the pressure on Iraq to comply. With the senior inspectors due to make their next report to the Security Council next week, Iraq still has a chance to change course.

President Bush's decision to dispatch Mr. Powell to present the administration's case before the Security Council showed a wise concern for international opinion. Since Mr. Bush's own address to the U.N. last September, he has kept faith with his commitment to work through the Security Council. As the crisis builds, he should make every possible effort to let the council take the lead.

The Security Council, the American people and the rest of the world have an obligation to study Mr. Powell's presentation very closely and very seriously. Because the consequences of war are so terrible, and the cost of rebuilding Iraq so great, the United States cannot afford to confront Iraq without broad international support.

We have more than enough support right now, Mr. Raines, and--as you admit in between cringes--we have more than enough evidence. Get with the program, or get the hell out of the way.